Just Keep Breathing
by The Pigeon One
Summary: When things get tough, when life kicks you when you're down, you have to Just Keep Breathing. Brief Zutara, Kataang.
1. Prolouge

Summary: I know why you've changed. I know you don't see the light anymore. But you have to come out of the darkness. You have to just keep breathing, and know I'm always here for you.

I was inspired by a prompt I saw somewhere that had nothing to do with Avatar at all. I really wanted to do something sad in the way of oneshots for once. I got in a mood, and my writing always turns out better when I'm moody.

Then I started listening to my writing band, Automatic Loveletter, and that's how I got the title.

Prompt: I know why you've changed.

Just Keep Breathing

I could see him so clearly, and yet when I looked at him, I didn't know what I was considering. He had always been adorable, even as a child when we had met, but five years can change as much of a person's appearance as it can one's personality.

And he _had_ changed, in both looks and character. He was not a child any more, no matter how badly I wanted that carefree little boy of twelve back. Where war had not changed him, peace had. So bright and childlike had he been that the fighting of diplomats over petty things had darkened his view of the world.

It made no sense to me, even as he tried to explain it to me. It wasn't logical that times when war and death were upon us that he should be the optimist, and when peace and prosperity were at the door, he became inconsolably bleak. I tried to talk to him, to get him to come back to me, but he turned his back, his shoulders hunched and depressing.

He was the Avatar. He was supposed to be, by nature, a cheerful person. At the very least, he was supposed to be contented. But these days, all he was was morose. I tried my very best to drag him out of his bad humor, but the more I tried, the more he ignored me.

One day, it got particularly bad. He usually talked to me if I really needed something, but when I came to his room that morning to tell him that the peace talks needed his attending, he ignored me as if I was asking him what was wrong. He turned his back on me sullenly, and his rejection made me want to cry.

I sat down next to him, his back facing me, and sighed. We were supposed to be in a relationship, he and I, but even though we had been dating for years now, we hadn't at the same time.

We had started off very strong – our relationship had been well balanced and full of life and energy. But as the peace talks began, he started to become distant and the happiness of the boy he was started melting away. Within months of the war ending, he had changed so much that I hardly recognized him.

Silently, I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. Tears slid, unbidden, down my face as he flinched away. No matter what, he had never shied away from my touch.

Sniffing, I spoke to him. "I know why you've changed. I know that you don't see the light anymore. But I love you, Aang, and I'll always be here for you. I know it hurts that there's so much selfishness in the world, but you can't let that make you lose hope. You have to soldier on. You have to just stop every once and a while, and just keep breathing. I know this is might seem like just an overemotional speech about hope by the preachy crybaby, but it's not. This is me, the girl you have always claimed to love, telling you that I know it's tough, but you have to trust that I know that you can trust _me_. If everything else in your world falls apart, I won't. I _love_ you, and that is _not_ going to change."

I felt the muscles in his back ease a little, and he turned just enough for my hand to fall against where I knew his tattoo traced up his spine. I could feel the tension built up in his back, and without thinking about it, I started rubbing his back with my thumb. He snuggled into my touch like a kitten enjoying being petted. For the first time in years, Aang was finally responding to me in a way I had long missed.

Feeling bold, I quickly spun into his lap, folding my legs underneath me. I put my hands on either of his shoulders and rubbed them gently. Though his face still looked haunted, it was less prominent in his features. Tenderly, he set his smooth head in the hollow of my throat.

I kissed the crown of his head and felt his toned arms slip around my waist. He pulled me closer, and I felt the bridges and walls he had built over the years start to crumble. We were closer, physically and mentally, than we had been in a very long time.

"Katara," he muttered against my collarbone. I knew he could feel the tears falling from my eyes on his mostly shaved head. He didn't shave it every day like he used to due to his always surly mood, and thin dust of his black hair could be seen over his arrow. I touched it gingerly, careful to not set him off and back into his miserable stupor.

Warily, I put my other hand under his chin and nudged his head upward, making him meet my gaze. I looked up and down his face a few times, from his eyes to his lips and back. Slowly and without ceremony, I moved towards him and kissed him for the first time in years.

It was slow and affectionate, and I pulled away and looked at him, smiling at him warmly.

"I've missed you," I said plainly. I hopped up from his lap and held out my hand for him to take.

A tentative smiled formed on his lips, and I almost started crying again at the sight. I had missed his expressive smirk, and I knew that he was almost the same person he had been when I met him. I knew that, in time, he would go back to being the exact same boy I had met all those years ago.

Aang took my hand and used it to help himself off the bed. He looked at me for a brief second before pulling me into his chest and holding me tightly in his arms.

"Thank you," he whispered, his teeth grazing my earlobe, and I shuddered, arching my neck so that my lips touched his ear.

"Anytime," I said throatily, and I lightly bit his earlobe.

I was annoyed when there was a knock at the door and my brother walked in. He took in my posture against Aang and the way he was holding me.

Sokka smiled knowingly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Good to have you back, Aang, buddy. But keep your hands off my sister."

He turned back out of the room and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Where were we?" I asked, and wrapped my arms around my boyfriend's neck. I kissed his lips, and felt him smile.

"I've missed you," he whispered against my mouth.

I pulled away from him and put his hands on my hips. "There's no need to miss me. I'm right here. And I always will be right here."

END

I like angsty Aang. He makes good stories.

So, cock-block Sokka wins at life. He likes to go around destroying intimate moments between, well everyone. Fun times.

Review. Even if you hated it. I want feedback! :D


	2. Fall Further

So, yeah, this started out as a oneshot but I liked it so much that I decided to chapter it. But it doesn't really get any happier, so brace yourself. Nice and full of misery! So enjoy, and remember that it doesn't stay happy!

Music for this chapter is hard to pin down, but while writing this, I was listening to August 28, 3:30 a.m. by Automatic Loveletter. It fits the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next.

Just Keep Breathing

Chapter Two

Sokka walked back to the commons smiling and slid the door shut. Suki looked up at him with curious blue eyes that silently asked what had happened. She wasn't hopeful.

Sokka was glad that Toph and Zuko were living in different apartments on the other side of the Jasmine Dragon, apartments Iroh had ordered built when it was clear that most of the peace talks would be in Ba Sing Se and his nephew and cohorts would need a place to stay. Their apartment was only next door, so it convenient if the two were needed for something, but if Sokka wanted to have a tête-à-tête with Suki or Katara, he didn't have to worry about his private conversation being overheard.

Of course, he didn't include Aang. He, until very recently, hadn't cared enough about the world to care about any secrets. Sokka could have yelled something meant to be covert across the apartment and Aang would have been none the wiser.

"I think we may have the Avatar back, Suki," Sokka said, and he grinned.

Suki's eyes widened and she gasped. "Sokka, what do you mean? Are you saying…"

"Yeah, he is."

Suki turned towards the sound of the deep voice that had interrupted her and saw Aang standing in the doorway with his arm around Katara's waist. She was smiling.

Suki was so shocked, not only to hear Aang's voice, a sound none of them had heard in a very long time, but also seeing him happy, that her mouth fell open.

When Sokka had told her that Aang had, in a sense, recovered, Suki hadn't believed that Aang would have been so much improved in so short a time. She was surprised to see him standing there in the doorway like nothing had ever been wrong with his arm intimately wrapped around Katara.

Aang chuckled at Suki's face. "Yeah, I know. But everything I need to say needs to be said later, because the Avatar and the Southern Water Tribe Delegate have a peace meeting to go to." He rolled his eyes.

Katara hoped that Aang wouldn't feel the muscles in her back tighten and her body tense, but he was the Avatar, and she could tell by the subtle look of guilt on his face that he had noticed.

"Aang," she said, her voice laced with concern. "Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, for one thing, the fighting is what caused everything and I can promise you that nothing has changed. For another… well, I just don't think it's a good idea."

Aang shrugged. "I wouldn't mind blowing off the meeting, but there are going to be more and I can't just put them endlessly on hold, and I can't just not show up."

Katara nodded grimly. "Well, can we at least reschedule this one? I don't mind going to tell the council. I just really don't want you to go."

Aang shook his head. "I have to be the one to tell them we're rescheduling it; you know they won't take word of mouth. I'll go with you. I actually just had a really good idea that I want to present to them and I think you'll like it. I'll have to talk to Zuko, but I think I can get us some free time away from Ba Sing Se."

Katara smiled quickly at the thought of getting out of the city the kept them inside its walls like prisoners. They had been in Ba Sing Se for far too long.

XXX

When Aang and Katara arrived at the meeting hall in the Earth King's palace, all the delegates and officials were already seated. Aang walked to the head of the table, and Katara sat at his right, though further down in rank than she thought was appropriate. She was all but a princess, the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Had she been from the North, she would have been addressed as Princess. And yet she sat further down the table than the Earth King's new advisor. Further down the table than Toph, who was there as the delegate from Gaoling, and was not royalty or the daughter of anyone of political importance.

She tried not to let to it get to her.

"Honoured council," Aang called, and everyone looked up at him with various degrees of shock written all over their faces. "Today I am indisposed. I would like to postpone this meeting and, with permission from Fire Lord Zuko, reconvene at his palace in the Fire Nation capital in a month's time."

Katara almost laughed out loud as she looked round at some of the delegates' faces. Their expressions were all astonished, more so than they had been when Aang had first spoken. Even the trained courtiers, even Zuko, the Fire Lord himself, couldn't keep the surprised shock from their faces.

For her part, Katara couldn't blame them. Aang had been all but absent during the last four years of peace meetings, and for him to suddenly speak up, especially to request a postponement of the meeting was akin to the dead speaking to someone who was not the Avatar.

"Fire Lord Zuko?"

Zuko turned to Aang, a frown on his face. "Um, yes, Avatar Aang, I think that it is acceptable."

Aang smiled and stood up. "Thank you, Fire Lord." He turned away from Zuko and then addressed the rest of the council. "This meeting is dismissed. See you all in a month."

Everyone stood and filed out except for Katara, who waited for Aang. As the Avatar, decorum dictated that he must stay until all the members of the council had gone. It was tradition for Katara to wait for him, even when he hadn't cared.

Katara watched as the last delegate went through the door and she then approached Aang.

"You're thinking of vacationing in the Fire Nation, aren't you?" she asked, threading the fingers of both her hands through both of his and smiling up at him.

Looking at Aang made Katara's mind flash with memories from the distant past. From the day she had met Aang, he had been at least a whole head shorter than she was. That had changed almost half a year after the war had ended when he hit his growth spurt and shot up before her eyes, right before he had become reclusive. He had suddenly sprung up like a weed, becoming handsome, his small, lanky body, the body of a child, turning into the lithe body of the man before her now.

Katara unlaced her fingers from Aang's and put her hand on his chest, his heartbeat resonating under her fingertips. Her other hand was still clasped it his, and she could feel his pulse as if it were her own.

Aang hadn't answered her question. She didn't give him the chance.

With an unintentionally seductive look playing in the lines of her features, she reached up with her free hand, the hand that had been on Aang's chest, and grabbed his neck, his rough, stubbly hair rubbing against her palm. Her smile was provocative, and she felt his pulse spike as she crashed her lips hungrily to his.

_This is what I've been missing,_ she thought as Aang reacted to her kiss vigorously. Four years was too long for a couple to go without any sort of physical contact.

Katara pulled her lips away from Aang's and gasped for breath, throwing her head back and exposing her neck. Aang wasted no time putting his lips on the side of her displayed flesh and planted kisses up and down the skin there.

"Aang, stop." Katara panted. The logical part of her brain was taking over, telling her that now was not the time or the place, and they had people waiting on them back at the flat.

"But I don't want to," Aang muttered against Katara neck, one hand in her hair, twisting one hand in her hair wrapping it around his fingers, the other still handclasped with her.

Katara laughed, and the spell was broken. Aang lifted his head and laughed too, his hearty chuckle harmonizing perfectly with Katara's melodious laugh. Katara shook her head and lightly kissed the airbender on the nose.

"Come on, silly," she said, pulling on his arm and setting him off balance. "We've got people we need to talk to, and Zuko's going to want to know what's going on. You know he's freaking out right now."

Aang nodded and followed Katara out of the council's room and towards the outside of the palace, holding her hand tightly in his the entire way.

He was happy. For the first time in years he was truly _happy_. If he was honest with himself, he was a little upset that he had been missing out on all the perks of being in a relationship with Katara. When they had first started dating, they had been so young that they weren't really sure about each other. They knew there was a mutual attraction, but their youth prevented them from truly enjoying each other.

Now that they were older, now that Aang had started getting his life back together, he understood what they really were to each other, and he comprehended perfectly how to keep both himself and his beloved mirthful and on cloud nine.

He knew, of course, that they were going to have moments when one or the other of them needed space, times when the simply couldn't stand the sight of each other. He knew they were going to get in arguments and become inauspicious to each other. That was part of any kind of relationship, be it friendly or romantic.

It also kept things interesting. If everything was always peaceful and calm, they would get bored with each other and then they would be unhappy and separate.

Aang almost looked forward to the disagreements they would have just to prove that they had a healthy relationship. He knew – he could feel it in his bones, a deep resonating feeling that made him tingle – that the worst part of his life was over and he had a long and joyous life ahead of him. And he knew it would be with Katara.

"Hey, Katara?" Aang asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think about the future? I mean, things have always been different for us. Things changed for you and Sokka the moment you found me in that iceberg. Did you ever stop to think what any of it might have caused?"

Katara thought about it for a moment, smiling at the question. It was so innocent, so plain and honest, seemingly out of the blue. So typical Aang.

"Well, I certainly didn't stop to think, gee, in five years I'm going to be dating this guy, or even that I'd help you save the world. I mean, I knew things were going to change when I found you, but I guess I never stopped to think just how much things would be different. Although I guess that should have been my first thoughts when we took off with you, seeing as I knew you were the Avatar."

"The dating part or the saving the world part?"

Katara rolled her eyes and lightly shoved her boyfriend. "The saving the world part, obviously. It's a little stupid, don't you think?" I mean, I barely knew you and I grabbed my brother and we just left without ever questioning it, and I never stopped to think that you were the Avatar and I was going to help you save the world. Pretty dumb, right?"

Aang shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. I mean, you'd been waiting for me to turn up for as long as you could remember, and then, suddenly I was there. You probably just got caught up in all the excitement."

"Maybe," Katara replied. "but I think you're a little cocky. I wasn't waiting for _you_ exactly, just the Avatar. You as yourself, as Aang, wasn't the person I was waiting for."

"Gee, thanks, that makes me feel so good." He said sarcastically.

Katara smiled. "No problem. But you didn't let me finish. I'm glad it was you, because if you had been at the temple that day, I wouldn't know you now. And I 'm glad you ran away and I'm glad that I'm the one that found you."

Aang was about to thank her in earnest when he looked at where they were and realized that they had walked right past their apartment.

"Katara, we just walked right past the apartment," He told Katara, and she laughed.

"It appears we have. We should probably turn around and go back."

Aang sighed wistfully. "Yeah. I just think it's funny that we were so caught up in our conversation that we walked right by. I can just imagine the look on Sokka's face."

Katara laughed at the mental image. "Yeah, too bad we missed it."

They turned around, laughing at their mistake and walked to the apartment, an entire block away from where they had realized their error.

When they walked through the door, everyone was gathered in the commons, though Sokka and Suki in the corner playing Pai Sho and Zuko was sitting next to Toph on the couch looking over some paperwork. Toph herself was simply sitting at her ease with her feet propped up on the table in front of her and a tea cup in her hand, not appearing to actually be drinking whatever was inside.

"So," Aang said, and everyone who wasn't blind looked up at him. "Uh, we have some plans to discuss."

Zuko sat back on the couch and crossed his arms under his chest. "Yes, and I think we all deserve to know what's going on with you, Aang."

The airbender smile sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess so." He took a deep breath to steady himself, and his face was then very serious.

"Look, guys, I know I haven't really been around, but things have changed. I'm not going to be moping around anymore. And I thought maybe we could take a vacation to Ember Island or something to get a break from all the stuff we get burdened with. We can vacation for a whole month, and afterwards we head to the capital where the peace talk will start again."

Aang could see Toph smile under her long, dark mass of hair that she, because she was blind, didn't ever bother to trim or move away from her face.

"Reliving the lazy days? Sounds like just the thing our little group needs."

"I don't mind the idea," Zuko said, rolling up the scrolls of paperwork piled in front of him. "But I wish someone would have told me about it _before_ it was dropped on me in a meeting that's supposed to help me fix my country. I was hoping about getting my economy stabilized in this one."

Suki snorted. "You say that every time, Zuko, and it hasn't happened yet."

Zuko glared at Suki. "That is _not_ my fault. If Kuei would swallow his pride, then we could all move on with our lives and…"

"Guys!"

Zuko didn't say anything about being interrupted and fell silent.

"It's obvious that we need this vacation. I think if everyone's up for it, we should leave tonight."

Everyone voice their consent. Yes, it would be great to leave tonight; I can be ready in five minutes; what should I pack; I'm so excited.

Aang smiled and looked down at Katara as the others chatted about going on vacation. "Do you like your surprise?"

Katara grinned like a fourteen year old girl. "I do. Thank you, Aang."

They walked out of the commons and in to Aang's room to start packing without another word to the others, who were still talking excitedly about Ember Island. It was like reliving the glory days.

XXX

Katara sat silently on the pile of rags Aang called a bed, watching him throw robes and various clothes in an old knapsack. He didn't like using a mattress, though mostly due to the fact that it was hard to find one that wasn't stuffed with feathers or wool. Instead, he had a stack of different cloths piled on top of the other until it had reached three or four feet high. Katara didn't think it was very comfortable, but when she had asked Aang about it, he just shrugged and told her he liked it.

"Hey, Aang," Katara said suddenly, a memory of the day before the Day of Black Sun replaying in her head. Aang looked at her in askance.

"Do you remember the day before the invasion? The day you couldn't sleep?"

Aang chuckled, a deep, throaty sound, and sauntered over to his girlfriend. "Yeah, offhandedly. My behavior then probably ranks up there with Sokka's on cactus juice."

Katara nodded and giggled. "Yeah, it was pretty crazy. But I was wondering why you take measures to prevent sleeping on mattresses stuff with wool, but you slept on that "giant cloud", as you put it, that night.

Aang shrugged and sat down next to Katara. "Well, for one thing, I knew where it came from, and I knew it was obtained humanely. For another, I was really, _really_ tired. It was probably that that did me in."

Katara shook her head, and then rested against Aang, kissing his cheek. "You're weird."

Aang pulled Katara into his lap. "Then you're a weird boy's girlfriend."

Katara looked up at Aang lustily. "You're no boy, Aang."

Aang kissed Katara's lips, bending her over his forearm. She snaked her arms around his neck and pressed her body as close against Aang's as she could. She trailed her tongue over his lips, and he moaned and grabbed her thigh, which she pressed against his hip when she wrapped her leg around his waist.

"Aang," Katara whispered passionately. She could feel him beneath her, could feel how much he wanted her. She pushed her body so hard against his that it hurt, but she felt, even then, that it wasn't close enough.

With sudden ferocity, Katara pushed Aang back on the bed and crawled on top of him, straddling him. She leaned down and kissed him with wild abandon, full of desire and ready to have Aang right there, not thinking of the consequences or the people only a door away.

She was just about to slip her hands under Aang's tunic and take it off when she heard the door slide open, and looked up to see Zuko standing in the doorway.

Katara blushed red an untangled herself from Aang, swinging her leg over Aang's body and lifting herself up to sit next to him in one fell swoop.

Katara refused to look at either of the men in the room; not Zuko standing in the doorway or Aang, propped up on his elbows with his legs hanging over the bed. She preferred, instead, to stare, embarrassed, down at her feet. She could not have felt more mortified if she had been caught with her underwear at her ankles in the middle of the street.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Zuko asked, slowly backing out of the room without realizing what he was doing.

"No," Aang said, but he sounded uncertain.

"Well," Zuko said awkwardly. " I came to tell you to hurry up and get packed. Sokka's getting impatient."

Zuko left without saying anything else to the couple he had just saved from a compromising situation, muttering about sex crazed, hormonally imbalanced saviors of the world.

Timidly, Katara raised her eyes to look at Aang and met his gaze. Her body was still trembling from the combination of endorphins and humiliation. T her relief, she wasn't the only one tinted red, and she sighed, leaning forward and putting her weight on her forearms, which rested on her knees.

"We can't keep doing this, Aang," she told him, running a hand through her thick and tangled hair. "It's not right."

Aang made a move to reach out and take Katara's hand, but checked himself, remembering that it was frequently simple gestures like the comfort of a hand that had gotten them started with much more serious matters.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, folding his hands on top of his stomach. "I just love you so much that sometimes I don't stop to think what I'm doing when I get to feeling… this way."

Katara reached out and grabbed Aang's hand, which she instantly regretted doing. Her hand brushed against the taut muscles of his stomach, and she felt a wave of the desire that had not completely drained from her body well up again. But she did not drop Aang's hand, instead wrapping both of hers around it and laying down next to Aang.

"I know," she said. "And I completely understand, because I feel the same way, but we can't keep this up. From now on, we aren't allowed to be in a room alone together. Otherwise we'll get tempted again."

"So we have to be chaperoned at all times?" Aang asked, looking crestfallen. Katara couldn't blame him; she disliked the idea just as much as he did.

"I know, I know, I hate it to. But we clearly can't control ourselves when we're alone, and it's just not appropriate. I love you and I don't want to put you between a rock and a hard place."

Aang hardly heard anything after he hear Katara say "I love you".

"You love me?" he asked, looking over at her with child-like wonder.

Katara's brow pulled together and was knitted with confusion. "Of course I love you. Wasn't it obvious?"

Aang didn't answer. He was too busy thinking, imagining the future in his head. Getting married, having kids, growing old together. He was blown away by Katara's confession of love, but it also made him radiate to the core with happiness.

"Katara, you have to marry me."

Katara was taken aback and sat up very suddenly. "What?"

"You have to marry me," he said, sitting up and angling his body towards hers. He grabbed her hands and put them both on his chest, over his heart, which was thumping erratically. "I love you, and I want to spend the rest of out lives together."

Katara was so dumbstruck that she could hardly speak. "But… aren't you going about it the wrong way? I mean, I love you, but you sort of just demanded I marry you, instead of asking."

Aang looked into the depths of Katara's ocean blue eyes. "I love you so, so much. Please, marry me?"

Katara still didn't know how to respond. Of course, she had known since that night five years ago that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Aang, and though marriage was the obvious way to do such a thing, marrying Aang had never really occurred to her.

"Aang, I… I don't know what to say. We're just so young, and I just… I just don't know."

Aang removed Katara's hands from his chest and kissed them before setting them down. "Do you want to marry me, Katara?"

"Of course I do! It's just…"

"Then say yes. It's that simple."

Aang's face looked dark and serious, and Katara felt very bad about putting such an expression in his handsome features. She meant to say something, anything, to make him feel better, but her jaw just opened and closed uselessly without any words ever coming out.

"Aang, I wish it were that simple," she finally came up with, and she watched anger flash in Aang's gray eyes. "But we can't just decided to get married."

Aang stood suddenly and walked back to his packing. His back was turned silently to Katara and he began to literally throw clothes in his knapsack.

"Aang, don't be that way. I…"

Aang spun around with a dangerous look on his face, like he was about to go into the Avatar State. When he spoke, however, his tone was contrastingly even.

"Go pack, Katara, because I really don't want to hear it. I'm not going to have a replay if Ember Island. So just go."

Katara's face was a picture of shock. Aang had never spoken to her like that, and she could feel the wetness dripping from her eyes, though she didn't immediately realize what it was.

"Aang," she whispered, reaching out towards him.

Aang didn't turn around to face her when he spoke.

"Go pack, Katara. We're leaving soon."

With tears running down her face, Katara got of the bed and headed to the door. She hesitated in the doorway, turning around with her left hand on the frame. "I love you." She said simply, her voice rough, and she left.

Aang turned around just in time to see Katara turn the corner and stared at the point where she disappeared.

XXX

Aang knew Katara was sitting by Appa's tail, but he steadily refused to look back that way as he loaded gear on Appa's saddle. Everyone, even Sokka, noticed that something was going on, noticed that Aang and Katara were ignoring each other, and Suki looked pointedly at Sokka.

"Have you noticed that your sister and Aang are ignoring each other?" she whispered in Sokka's ear.

Sokka's face was solemn, something that was very rare.

"Yes," he said. "and I'm worried that Aang's going to start being depressed again, which would be very bad."

Suki nodded and directed her gaze at Katara. The waterbender kept glancing sideways, trying to catch a glimpse of Aang, and holding back tears.

"I'll talk to Katara if you talk to Aang."

Sokka shook his head. "No, I think we should do it the other way around. I'm her brother; she's more likely to talk to me."

"I see your reasoning there," Suki agreed. "I think you're right. So let's go get this fixed before it gets any worse."

Sokka nodded, gave Suki a quick kiss, and turned towards his sister, who was sitting on the stone next to Appa's tail.

"Katara," he called softly, and Katara turned to look at him with red and puffy eyes.

"You look like hell," Sokka observed in his typically blunt manner. "Care to talk about it?"

Katara answered in the negative, but Sokka didn't move.

"Katara, you're my sister, and I'm here for you. It's pretty obvious that you had a fight with Aang, and I'm worried about both of you, so tell me what's wrong."

Katara sighed and looked down at her feet, and when she spoke, her voice was broken and uneven.

"He asked me to marry him, Sokka. At first I thought he was joking, but he was serious and he got upset when I couldn't tell him yes."

Sokka looked, awed, at his sister. "Wait, so he asked you to marry him and you said no? I don't get it."

"Look, Sokka, I love him, and yes, I want to marry him. Aang is the only man I've ever been able to see myself settling down with, but I just can't marry him right now."

"That doesn't make sense, Katara, and you know it" Sokka responded. "Aang loves you and you love Aang. Two plus two equals four. So why won't you marry him?"

"Why don't you marry Suki?" Katara countered.

Sokka didn't miss a beat. "Because we're waiting for the right time. We've been planning our wedding for months."

Katara's jaw hung slack with astonishment for two whole minutes before she found her voice and could respond. "You mean to tell me that you have been engaged to Suki for months!"

Sokka shook his head. "Not the way you make it sound. I didn't propose or anything. One day we just decided to get married and we've planning ever since."

"Well, great. Thanks for the news, Sokka. That's just going to make Aang feel so much better. You really couldn't have brought worse news."

Sokka put his hand on his sister's shoulder. "Marry him, Katara. Go up to him right now, tell him you love him, and say that you'll marry him."

END CHAPTER

*Takes deep breath*

That was a really long chapter by my standards, and it took me _forever_ to type. But it was worth it, because I feel that this chapter was good.

And how about that lime, eh? Naughty kids. Of course, in the end it led to them having a really big fight, so karma got em!

I'd like to thank sing. your. heart. out287 for helping me so much with this chapter and betaing it. Without her, a good part of that lime wouldn't exist. Thanks also go out to MooseyAvatard who also read through some of this and gave me her opinion. Thanks, you two!

So, review if you liked it! Also, I'm working on a piece from the scene where Katara's leaving Aang's room and she's turned in the doorway, so let me know in your review if you would like to see it!

- The Pigeon One.


	3. Rely

My new motto: If you read it, review it.

So last chapter we had out two favorite lovers in a horrible spat. This chapter is more filler than anything else, most in the way of establishing relationships and stuff. That being said, it's going to be a bit shorter. Not to mention I rewrote this chapter three times, so I'm not promising any genius, here.

Music for this chapter: I listened to Breathe Again by Sara Bareillis the entire time I was writing this chapter, but none of the lyrics actually work for this particular chapter. It's more of the song for the story. So listen to that. Also, The Other Side of the Door by Taylor Swift gives some insight into Katara's feelings.

Remember to review!

Just Keep Breathing

Chapter Two

Katara sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, slick tears leaking out of her eyes. She was miserable.

_Sokka doesn't understand_, she thought. She loved Aang. He was her entire world. But she couldn't marry him for reasons that neither Aang nor Sokka seemed to understand. They were in the middle of peace talks that would change the world. Katara felt like getting married to someone so central to the success of those meetings would be distracting Aang from his duties as the Avatar and nothing would get accomplished. And that would be the sin unpardonable.

After all, Katara was a very duty-driven person. If she felt something was her duty, then she put all else aside – her feelings, others' feelings, and even her boyfriend's feelings – to get what she needed to accomplished.

Which was part of the reason she was now sulking next to Appa's tail. She didn't know what her duty was – was she her duty by marrying man who loved her, making him the most happy, or was she supposed to accomplish it by denying him so he could better serve the world?

Had she heard the footsteps coming her way, Katara would have quickly wiped the tears from her face and attempted to look calm. But her head was spinning with confusion, and by the time she noticed, Zuko was already sitting next to her.

He sat there next to her for several minutes without saying anything, and though Katara wished Zuko wasn't seeing her like this, she felt soothed by his quiet presence instead of annoyed.

"He's in pieces, you know," he finally said, though he kept his gaze steadily ahead of him.

Katara followed his example. "I know," she told him, though it was almost unintelligible. It was the only thing she could manage to say.

Zuko continued to stare ahead, his eyes focused on the tea shop in front of him, completely silent. Though there was a time when Katara had resented Zuko, a time when it had been quite obvious, those times were part of a distant past, and Katara was now glad that Zuko had joined their group.

And she had to admit, even though almost nothing had been said, she was glad she was having this conversation with Zuko. He was kind and caring, but he was kind and caring in the least amount of words possible. It was comforting to her to know that Zuko would say what he needed to say and be done with it.

"Katara, you know that if I'm here saying something than he's seriously hurting. It's depressing to see him like that."

Katara refused to respond, preferring instead to stare guiltily down at her feet. Wallowing in self pity was always something she had frowned upon, and yet there she was, doing it herself.

"Do you hate him, Katara?"

The question astounded her, and she felt like if she had been standing, she would have fallen over. She looked up quickly to see Zuko's steady glance finally trained on her, and she blushed a crimson red.

"Hate him?" she exclaimed. "Of course not! Why would you even think that?"

Zuko looked at her with cold eyes, something unusual for the hotheaded firebender. "Because you're breaking his heart, and treating it like it's nothing. He wants to spend the rest of his life with you and you're torturing him by telling him no."

Katara was shocked into silence – she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How do you know all this? I know Aang, and he wouldn't have told you!"

Zuko studied Katara for a moment, judging her mental state. His stare was so intense that Katara felt herself instinctually leaning away from him.

"I have eyes Katara." He put forth. "And I can see. I pay attention to things."

"It doesn't change anything," Katara said by way of reply, reverting back to the previous part of the conversation. "I love him, but right now is not the time to be getting married. We have obligations, and people need us."

Zuko sighed and looked back at the horizon. "Katara, I understand that you have a responsibility to make progress in these meetings, and I understand that you think you have to keep Aang focused, but none of that should have an affect on your relationship. Besides, just because you're engaged doesn't mean that you have to get married on the spot. I'm sure Aang understands that. But he's really hurt that you turned him down."

Zuko's words made Katara feel like an immature child throwing a tantrum. She could see the logic in what he said, but her stubborn side wouldn't let her agree and run off to Aang like a love stricken teenager.

"I just can't do it," she said, her body slumped over with the weight of her guilt.

Zuko said nothing but suddenly sprung up from where he was sitting to stand in front of Katara. He offered her his hand to help her up, and initially she shied away from it. But he left it there in front of her, almost taunting her, and she eventually took it. He pulled her to her feet in one fluid movement and looked her squarely in the eyes with a deadly seriousness that only he seemed to perfect.

"Go tell him you love him, Katara, or he may end up hating you forever." He said simply.

Katara didn't say anything and pulled her long hair over her shoulder and fiddled with it like she did when she was nervous, a habit she had picked up from her under cover time in the Fire Nation. She didn't look Zuko in the eyes; she felt like she couldn't. He was standing there, pointing out all her flaws, pointing out why she was being ridiculous about not wanting to marry Aang.

"Now isn't a good time," she finally muttered.

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest and gave Katara a look that made her feel like their roles had been reversed, and he was suddenly the motherly one.

"That's bull, Katara." He said forcefully. "The sooner you do it, the better. But I can't make you do anything you don't want to. If you want to make yourself miserable and alienate Aang, then by all means, go ahead. You're already doing a fine job."

Katara looked down at her feet and heard Zuko sigh. She looked up just enough to see him walk away from her, shoving his hand through his long, dark hair and muttering to himself as he went.

Without care, Katara threw her hair back over her shoulder. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest, and she felt selfish and mercenary. Aang was her world, and here she was treating him like swine.

She was drained both emotionally and physically, and all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and never come back out. As it was, she was having trouble keeping herself balanced, and she felt like her world was spinning.

It wasn't until Katara started thinking about how stressed she was that she remembered the fountain that Iroh had had installed out back after the war, only a few feet from where Katara was standing.

She peeked around Appa's tail, cautious of others seeing her, and saw it there, bubbling water and promising relief.

It was very much instinct. Almost without consciously doing so, Katara began to walk towards the fountain, seeking the comfort of the flow of bending water back and forth between her fingers.

Katara was so focused on her own feelings that she was almost at the fountain before she saw the silhouette sitting on the well of the structure. Not wanting to disturb whoever it was, she ducked behind the nearest wall to wait and observe.

It didn't take her more than a second to realize it was Aang sitting there. She was so aware of him, even when she couldn't see his distinguishing tattoos that marked him as the Last Airbender, she could tell it was him, and as her eyes adjusted to the steadily darkening light, she could see just how familiar his form was to her.

The fading light of sunset fell across the tight muscles of his unclothed back and he was bent over his knees. At first, Katara thought he was crying, but she forced her eyes to focus better and saw that he wasn't crying, but waterbending.

Katara gasped a sigh of surprise – she hadn't expected that he would seek out her element instead of his own, and seeking solace from the air when he was beyond human comfort was something he was known to do. Katara had seen him climb as high as he could and simply sit as he felt the air currents around him brush his skin, a habit he had once told her that most airbenders picked up when they were small children.

So that he was sitting on the well of the fountain waterbending baffled Katara. She thought that maybe he was seeking out some weird connection to her, that by waterbending he felt closer to her. She quickly dismissed the thought as silly – what kind of person would go seeking a connection to someone they didn't want to see? It made no sense.

Katara had half made up her mind to walk right up to Aang and fall on her knees in front of him, begging for forgiveness, but at the same moment that she took a step, Aang heaved a sigh and pushed himself off the well, grabbing his tunic from where it had been discarded at his feet. He trudged away with his tunic balled up in his fist, running his free hand over his stubbly head, walking in the opposite direction from his estranged girlfriend. He didn't see her, something Katara wasn't sure if she was happy or grieved about.

Gingerly, Katara walked to the fountain, as careful as if she were treading across eggshells, her eyes downcast, and sat where Aang had been sitting only moments before, the stone of the well still warm from his body heat. Katara dipped her slender fingers in the water of the fountain, not caring how dirty it might be, bending a steady stream of water into her other hand as she splashed around.

A first, Katara had only intended to do a little waterbending – it was stress relieving on its own. But she loved the way the water felt against her fingers so much that she was quickly down to her skives and splashing around in the fountain, soaking her entire body, including her hair with the cool water.

Katara thought that she must look ridiculous to any on lookers, a grown woman in her underwear playing in a fountain. But she didn't really care. It was her own personal form of medicine, a part of being both a waterbender and a healer, and her wading about in the two feet of water in the fountain took a great part of the guilt weighing on her shoulders away. The water helped heal most of both her physical and emotional exhaustion, and she was glad of it.

But she was out of the fountain and dry and dressed before anyone could see what she was doing, knowing that they were to be leaving soon and not wanting to deal with the consequences.

As Katara climbed up on Appa and situated herself in the saddle next to her brother, her conversation with Zuko was fresh on her mind. Aang was sitting on Appa's head, tying the reins to the flying bison's horns, and taking special care not to look back at Katara.

Though her romp in the fountain had done her a world of good, the look Aang gave her when he turned around to make sure he had all passengers before taking off was so chilling that Katara turned to Sokka with sad eyes that needed to be comforted. Sokka understood, and he wrapped his arms protectively around his little sister.

Katara quickly fell asleep in the comforting circle of her brother's arms. Zuko quickly noticed that she was sleeping, and, in a whispered voice that took care of being quiet enough so Aang could not hear, turned to Sokka and spoke.

"She's unreasonably torn up about this, isn't she?"

Sokka nodded. "I wish she wasn't so upset about it, because I really don't support her decision and it's making it hard for me to make her feel better."

"I understand completely what her motives are," Zuko said, giving his two cents. "But from what I can tell, she was really harsh about it. She could have explained her reasons to Aang, and she didn't."

"She's messed up about that," Sokka agreed. "But I think another part of it is the fact that Aang is her best friend and normally, if something like this had happened with another guy, she would have gone and talked to him. She just needs a friend."

Zuko looked skeptically at Sokka. "She talks to you, doesn't she?"

Sokka sighed. "It's different. I'm her brother, and she doesn't want to talk about that stuff with me. I love her and everything, but personally, I really don't want to hear it, either."

Zuko shrugged. "I guess I can respect that. I just hope they make up soon, I don't like the atmosphere. Aang's miser act is getting a little tired."

They both turned to look at Aang, then, his head hung and his shoulders slumped, only vaguely paying attention to the skies in front of him.

"Yeah," Sokka said. "No kidding."

END CHAPTER

So, after an entire chapter of having writer's block and entirely redoing this four times, I finally got my "stuff" (thank you Zuko) back at the very end. Originally, the whole conversation with Sokka and Zuko was a lot longer, but it was also very forced and calculated, and it wasn't flowing _at all_. So it became this shorter, less abrasive version of the talk, and I like it a lot better.

Anyway, this story has been through so much revision that I'm thinking of uploading an alternate version of it, with bloopers and stuff. If it gets popular enough, and I get enough reviews, I'll start uploading the stupid version as well as posting all the art this story is accumulating on my profile. I've been doing a lot of sketching for this because it's so visual in my mind that I can't imagine people seeing it any differently so I have to draw it out.

Anyway, review! There are some major plot twists coming in the next few chapters, so if you want to see those, review, and I'll get it done much more quickly!


	4. Automatic

Hey howdy hello. Welcome to the third chapter of Just Keep Breathing.

So, last chapter I forgot to mention that the next day was my birthday, so updating was my birthday present to myself. Just throwing that out there.

There's quite a list of music for this chapter. First is Back to December by Taylor Swift. Some of it fits and some of it doesn't. You get brownie points and a chapter dedicated to you if you find the lyrics in the dialogue. Second is In My Veins by Andrew Belle. I love that song, and I wrote a good deal of this to it. And last is Another Day by Paramore.

Just Keep Breathing

Chapter 3

Katara woke up only to notice that Sokka was now reining Appa and Aang was asleep next to her where Sokka had been last time she'd looked.

Everyone else was asleep, and she was glad of it. She had had enough of petty conversation and she was sick of having to keep up her end of it. She would much rather sit in silence and watch the night sky fly by and think to herself.

She inhaled deeply and then pulled all of her hair over her shoulder as it tickled her nose. She began braiding the long, thick mass, not bothering to tie it at the ends, knowing that she would be falling back asleep very shortly, and having her hair tied up would only bother her.

Having her hair pulled back and braided made Katara think about the past and how much she missed it. Things had been so simple then, so straightforward. There hadn't been any lovers' spats or out of control hormones that complicated things.

So much had changed since then. Distantly, Katara realized that, even though she had enjoyed her time with Aang more recently, she missed the past. The present had her caught in its tight fist, crushing her with the complications it presented. She just wanted to go back to being a sweet and innocent fifteen year old girl in love with Aang before the talks had started and everything had changed.

She didn't want to be this twenty year old woman wondering if she should marry the man she was clearly in love with.

Sighing, Katara turned to look at Aang. In sleep, he looked so peaceful, hardly like the hardened and angry man he currently was. He looked innocent, and, though he clearly had the defined and muscular body of an eighteen year old, he looked twelve again. He looked so serene that Katara just wanted to scoop him up in her arms and cuddle him and let him sleep there until all the evils of the world had vanished and it was just the two of them.

Sighing, Katara turned away from Aang and curled back up, ready to fall back asleep. She knew they still had a few hours left of flight left until they reached their destination of Gaipan, and she was still tired.

When she woke back up, it was light and the air around her felt heavy. It took her a moment to realize that this was because Appa was not soaring through the skies. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes to better her vision and look at her surroundings.

Katara put her hand on her stomach as she vaulted over the side of Appa's saddle and landed on the gravelly ground below. She didn't feel well, like she had eaten something bad and it was coming back for revenge. She took a deep breath trying to steady herself, hoping that it was just the sudden change it altitude after living in a different one for so long.

Katara looked around quickly to see if anyone else was around. When she saw no one, she began walking towards the big meeting house in the center of town, knowing that it was where everyone else would be.

But before she could get to the meeting house, she spotted Zuko sitting nearby.

"What are you doing there, Zuko?" she called to him skeptically. It looked to her as if he had been waiting for her.

His eyes came up and he looked at her with a kindly smile. "You were still asleep and everyone agreed that it would be a bad idea to leave you, but we didn't want to leave you alone. I'm sitting halfway between where you were and the meeting house so if there was any trouble either way, I could get there quickly."

Katara regarded the Fire Lord for a brief moment before sitting down next to him like an intimate friend. She leaned her head against the wood of the building behind her and closed her eyes.

"I don't need protecting, you know."

"I know."

The both of them were silent, neither of them willing to breech the subject of Aang. They both simply sat there for a long, quiet moment and listened to each other's breathing.

"I've been taking self – defense lessons," Katara finally said, moving her head so that it no longer rested against the building and scootching so that her back did instead.

"Really?" Zuko replied. "Why? You were a master waterbender at fourteen, and you've only gotten better with time. Why do you need self defense lessons?"

"Because I'm terrible at hand to hand combat. It's different fir firebenders because your stances are more aggressive and more about defense. Waterbending is meant to be offensive, and if I can't bend for some reason, I want to know that I'll be able to fight and defend myself."

Zuko cocked his eyebrow. "I'd never thought of that. But it makes sense. I picked up dao swords for when I couldn't bend. I can't believe that that never occurred to me.

Katara nodded. "I'm able to defend myself now, and that's good."

Zuko looked curiously at the waterbender beside him. "No offense or anything, Katara, but why are you telling me this?"

Katara shrugged. "Because you said you were here to protect me if anything happened. I just thought you should know that I can defend myself almost no matter what and that you don't have to worry about protecting me."

XXX

Katara and Zuko didn't move.

The sun was setting around them and Katara remarked that they had been sitting three talking with each other for an awful long time, doing nothing but talking. Zuko agreed, asking where the time had gone.

Katara stretched her arms out in front of her, waiting until they made a satisfying popping noise and then lifted herself off the ground. She told Zuko that they had missed lunch in all of their talking and she was hungry and didn't want to miss dinner as well.

Zuko told her to go and he would catch up to her later. She nodded and walked off, her arms swinging gracefully back and forth by her side.

Zuko ran his fingers through his dark hair trying to collect his thoughts. He and Katara had never really been friends, even if they had gotten along better than some of the friends he knew. They had never really tried to be friends, he realized, and he didn't have to wonder at why. They didn't hate each other, but to call them friends would have been overstating things.

All that had changed in one afternoon. He had never thought that Katara would open up to him like that, never thought that she would bare her soul to him and try to be his friend. And yet, she had made the choice to spend the entire day sitting and talking with him, ignoring he baser instincts and skipping lunch just to talk to him. She had chosen to become intimate friends with someone she had once hated and then been indifferent to.

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted when he heard light footsteps approaching and looked up to see the Avatar – Katara's boyfriend, he quickly reminded himself – standing in front of him.

"Did she stay on Appa all day?" he asked, and though his tone was polite, Zuko heard the accusation behind his disinterested words.

"No, she came down at about noon and sat down and talked with me."

Zuko saw the jealousy flash through Aang's gray eyes, and the malice that was gone before it registered. Aang was a kind and gentle person, even through all he'd had to endure, and Zuko was his friend. He would never hurt his friends.

"I love her, Zuko,"

Zuko stood up, stunned at how sincere Aang's simple words were, and clapped the younger man on the back. "She loves you, too. She's just a little confused right now, but she loves you. Just give her some time."

Aang sighed. "You're sure she loves me? Because right now, I don't really feel like she does."

"Aang," Zuko said, his tone serious. He was a little annoyed that the Avatar was questioning Katara's love of him. "Katara went to talk to you almost every night for almost five years without fail, even when you shooed her away. Yes, I'm sure she loves you. If she didn't, I'm sure she would have gone back to the South Pole by now."

Aang smiled, though it was clear that his heart wasn't in it. "So, are you two friends now?" he asked, motioning towards the meeting house where he knew Katara was.

Zuko shrugged as they started walking. "You would think that five years would make us friends, but it didn't. I do think she likes me better now, though. Honestly, I think she only tolerated me because she knew you trusted me, even after the Southern Raiders thing."

"I don't think that's entirely true," Aang disagreed. "I mean, yeah, it was defiantly like that in the beginning, before you went off to go find Yon Rha, but I think that after that, she at least trusted you, and not because of me."

"Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that is she watched us every time we practiced firebending, without fail, and I'm pretty sure it was because she didn't trust you to be around me without supervision."

Aang chuckled, clapping Zuko on the back. "You know, I'd forgotten she used to do that. So maybe you do have a valid point. But what about now? Friends?"

Again, Zuko shrugged. "I think so. We actually have more in common than I thought. She's not quite as serious as she looks."

"I know. The first thing we ever really did together was penguin sledding, right before we sent off that trap in the old Fire Navy ship. She taught me how to catch them because they kept running away from me."

Zuko laughed at the mental picture. "I can just imagine a twelve year old you riding a penguin, and I have to say, it's a pretty interesting picture."

"We did it again," Aang told him. "For old times sakes' when we went up there before the talks. It was just like the first day I met her."

For a second, Zuko didn't say anything. He suddenly felt welcome by Aang and Katara and their friends for the first time since they had left Ember Island five years ago, but he didn't know on what standings of friendship they claimed.

"Was it love at first sight?"

Aang looked at Zuko oddly for a moment, curious as to why he was asking, and then smiled. "Yes. I knew from the second I saw her that there was something there, and I was always truing to impress her from then on. Even as a goofy kid, I knew I loved her."

"Wow, that's pretty intense, especially for a kid. You were only twelve."

"I know. It makes me wonder if it was an Avatar thing or not. I should ask Roku next time I talk to him."

Briefly, Zuko looked amazed. "You talk to Roku?"

Aang laughed at the expression on his companion's face. "That _is_ an Avatar thing. I can talk to my past lives when I need their guidance."

"Wow. This Avatar stuff never ceases to amaze me."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you really have no idea. It can get really crazy."

"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "I can attest to that. I wish you could see yourself in the Avatar State."

Aang shuddered, a quick but obvious movement. "I'm glad I can't. I've heard it can get pretty scary, and I'd probably loose my nerve to use it if I saw myself in it."

Zuko nodded and looked ahead at the meeting hall. "Do you think they've started dinner yet?" he asked as they climbed the stairs and took their shoes off before entering, something practiced in many, but not all, Earth Kingdom cities.

"Nah," Aang replied. "Sokka helped save this town from Jet once, but the Elders have never met me. I doubt they've started without the Avatar there."

They entered the meeting house and their eyes were greeted with a long table filled end to end with food, a place set for the Avatar at the head of the table. Aang shrugged at Zuko and strode to his place, sitting down with Katara and a pretty Gaipan girl on either side of him.

"Honoured Avatar, we are glad to have you as a guest in our modest town. Please accept this humble feast we have prepared for you as a token of out gratitude."

Aang nodded and thanked the Elder, though the feast was far from small. He told the gathered council that he was glad to be in Gaipan, and sorry that he and his friends were to leave after the feast if they were to make it to Ember Island the next morning. He promised them that the next time he was in the area, he would come and stop for a longer visit.

Almost as soon as Aang stopped talking the girl next to him introduced herself. She told him that her name was Noni, and that she was an important person in her town. Aang only looked at her for half a second, enough to decide that she was pretty (though nowhere near as pretty as Katara) but annoying.

He tried to make pleasant conversation with the girl – his only other option was to talk to Katara – but she was so vapid and flirtatious that he constantly found that he was ignoring her without realizing it.

Katara watched the whole thing with a critical eye, hoping that Aang wasn't going to return this girl's attentions. She wasn't speaking with Aang, but he was still her boyfriend, and he wanted to be her fiancé. Flirting with other girls was not okay, no matter how mad he was.

But Katara's imagination was running away with her. Aang was barely talking to the Noni girl, much less flirting with her.

When Aang looked up at Katara, though, she was suddenly very engrossed in the plate of food before her, focusing on her food and nothing else. She wished that someone, preferably Zuko, as he was the closest person to her that she actually knew, would speak to her and rescue her from the embarrassing glance that Aang was giving her. When no one answered her silent prayers, she began eating with more gusto than was necessary.

But there was only so much she could do after dinner was over and the plates had been cleared. She folded her hands gingerly in her lap, feeling awkward, hoping to be saved from the uncomfortable situation.

When she looked up, Zuko met her eyes and smiled gently at her, and she smiled back in gratitude.

"So, Katara, how does it feel to be traveling again?" he asked, and Katara could feel the awkwardness that had been present only moments before melt away.

"I don't seem to be taking it very well," she replied sadly. "I didn't feel so great when we got here, but that's probably just because we've been in Ba Sing Se for so long that flying just didn't agree with me. What about you?"

Zuko shrugged. "I always hated flying, and this time wasn't any different."

Katara snickered. "Gee, Zuko, what don't you hate?" she goaded him sarcastically.

"I don't hate you."

Katara froze in that instant, though Zuko didn't notice. She recalled that he had once told her that he and Mai used to play a game in which she would tell him that she didn't hate him and he would reply that he didn't hate her, too, and it was really just them telling each other 'I love you'.

Katara willed her expression to be calm, and she forced her features to be composed. Zuko hadn't noticed what he had said or what it implied had had any effect on Katara; he was too busy munching on a grape.

Katara could feel Aang's eyes on her again, even though Noni was chattering away at him on his other side, and an awkward blush formed on her cheeks.

Making a point not to look at Aang, Katara replied to Zuko, "I'm glad you don't hate me. That would make it hard for us to be friends."

Zuko raised his eyebrow, and Katara wondered if he was being flirtatious or if he had always been that way and she just never noticed. "What, we're friends now?"

Katara laughed, still desperately trying not to look at Aang. "Yeah, I'd defiantly say that we are."

XXX

Katara quickly glanced at Aang as she prepared to hop off Appa's saddle. It had been a long day of flying full of tense and awkward silences, but they had finally reached Ember Island.

Katara threw the last of the luggage from the saddle and jumped off after it and dragged all she could through the sand and in to the house. She avoided Aang's glance just as thoroughly as he avoided hers.

"Hey, Sokka, Zuko!" Katara yelled as soon as she was in the house. "Come and get your stuff! I refuse to be your nanny!"

Zuko turned the corner with an apple in his hand and a smirk on his face. "Yes, Mother, as you say," he said as he picked up his one bag.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I doubt you would talk to your mother like that."

"Agni, Katara," Zuko chuckled. "Sokka wasn't kidding when he said you act like a mom."

Katara looked at Zuko with a devious expression on her face and lightly smacked his arm. "Sokka has no idea how _unmotherly_ I can be."

Zuko had an alarmed and shocked expression on his face. Katara laughed as she patted his shoulder. "Don't look like that, Zuko, that has nothing at all to do with you." She called after Sokka again and grabbed her bags and headed up to her room, leaving a flabbergasted Zuko behind.

What neither of them knew was that Aang had been just around the corner the entire time, watching the exchange. His ears were red with anger and his eyes were narrowed in jealousy. He made a mental note to confront both Zuko and Katara, though he thought it wisest to speak to them separately.

He felt betrayed, and hot tears came to his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He understood now why Katara had rejected his proposal; because she was seeing Zuko on the side – probably something that had started as the result of Aang's lack of empathy for the past five years.

Aang turned to go up the stairs with tears still falling quickly and steadily down his face and rounded the corner that lead to his room. He was regretting the choice his younger self had made in his pick of rooms – his was the closest to Katara's. The chances of them running into each other were that much greater with rooms so close. Even if his room did have the best view and a nice balcony, he wasn't sure he wanted it anymore.

Memories of his previous stay in the room five years before haunted his memory. Though those had been different times, they were eerily similar to the present.

Images of the night they had all gone to see the Ember Island Players slammed themselves mercilessly into Aang's mind, and the hurt that they had caused and how they were strikingly similar to her rejection of his marriage proposal.

Aang sat down on the mattress and put his head in his hands. He thought things had been going so well with Katara. After years of being nothing more than a hollow shell of himself, Katara had woken him up and he had thought that she had been waiting up for him.

That she hadn't wasn't all that surprising, and Aang thought that maybe he could and would have accepted the situation if she hadn't led him on once he had come around. She had played him. She was with Zuko. She wanted nothing to do with the last airbender.

Aang flung himself back on the mattress, lying on his back with his legs hanging over the side and his arms sprawled out on the bed and tears spilling from his eyes.

He fell asleep like that, there on an expensive bed that was his but not, his long legs draped uncomfortably over the side. He dreamt, but it was mostly troubled, Katara's pretty face floating through with different expression that troubled Aang. Aang's unconscious mind dredged up the painful memory of the night of Katara's no, a memory he had been trying to repress, and even in his sleep the anguished tears fell.

When he woke, the light had shifted, and the sun was steadily sinking below the horizon. He went out to the balcony to look out on the beach and the beautiful pinks and purples in the sky.

It didn't take Aang very long to realize that there were two people walking down the beach, a couple out on the fine sands laughing and giggling, the sunset a romantic background for the barefooted lovers.

It took him less time – a split second – to realize that the couple was Katara and Zuko.

Aang was so angry that he didn't realize what he was doing. Seeing them walking down the beach laughing and happy while he was holed up in his room was the last straw. He couldn't take it anymore. He would have the truth, or else.

Aang all but blasted down the stairs, trying very hard to control himself so that his anger so that he didn't go into the Avatar State. His hands were balled up in fists at his side and his face was contorted in rage and pain.

Katara and Zuko were so wrapped up in their happy conversation that they didn't notice the angry airbender storming towards them at first. But when he stepped in front of them, even in the failing light, it was hard not to notice the scorned man with pain, confusion and anger in his eyes.

"Aang? What's wrong?" Katara asked, reaching towards him, but he jerked away and glared at Zuko.

"Get out of here, Zuko," Aang demanded in a low hiss. "_My_ girlfriend and I have something we need to discuss."

Zuko looked vaguely offended and Katara didn't fail to notice Aang's emphasis on the word _my_. But Zuko didn't argue, saying only that they had been talking of Aang before he had walked up and Zuko turned and walked away.

Katara opened her mouth to speak, a little angry with Aang for treating Zuko so harshly, but Aang put up his hand and silenced her.

"Don't say anything, Katara," he spat at her, and she visibly recoiled at his words.

"I understand now why you can't marry me," he proceeded, his tone still angry and somewhat vicious. All I want to know is why you told me you loved me when you're seeing Zuko."

Katara looked at the tattooed man in front of her with wide eyes and her jaw fell open with her shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You think I'm seeing Zuko?" she asked after a long moment, her tone incredulous.

Aang's eyes narrowed at her. "I've seen you with him, Katara. Don't try to pretend."

Katara felt the odd urge to laugh, but suppressed it, knowing that it wasn't appropriate. "Aang," she said. "Just because I've been hanging out with Zuko doesn't mean I'm seeing him on the side. I'm not cheating on you with Zuko. I love _you_."

"No, you don't," Aang retorted. "You love…"

Katara cut him off by lunging quickly forward, grabbing his face and kissing him so fiercely that Aang was stunned and dropped his defenses. She held him there for a minute, just kissing him, and then released his face and stepped back a pace.

"I love _you_, Aang. Zuko and I were talking about you and all the good times I've had with you. We were talking about how much I love you and what I should do to apologize to you. And I want you to know that I want to marry you. I love you and I want to marry you."

Aang looked at Katara with wide, unbelieving eyes. He didn't know if he should believe the woman standing there in front of him, the woman he had accused of cheating on him only moments before. He stood there looking at her, unable to move or speak, and Katara grew impatient.

"Do you still want to marry me, Aang?" she asked awkwardly, fearing the answer would be no.

But the question snapped Aang out of his trance, and he looked at Katara like she was insane. "Of course I want to marry you, Katara." He said plainly. "I love you and that's never going to change. You have the power to mortally wound me I love you so much but no matter how much you hurt me, I will always take you back. And I'm sorry I came at Zuko like that. It was uncalled for."

Katara stepped forward and embrace her boyfriend – fiancé. "It's okay. I'm sorry that you gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye."

Aang wrapped his arms around the woman who had just agreed to be his wife and returned her hug in kind. "You came back, and that's all that matters."

XXX

Sokka looked suspiciously at his sister and Aang as they walked into the kitchen with their hands clasped and smiles on their faces. Sokka raised his eyebrow at Aang, who only grinned, and Sokka sunk back in to his chair.

"So, have you guys finally kissed and made up?"

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. "Yes, we have, and you're now looking at your future brother - in - law."

Sokka chuckled. "Well, good, coz Zuko invited Mai and I can only take so many people being miserable at once."

Aang and Katara exchanged a quick glance. It was no secret that Zuko had left Mai in the Fire Nation while he went to the meetings in Ba sing Se, where he had been for the better part of five years while Mai had remained in the Fire Nation. Zuko had not seen Mai in so many months that Katara wondered if he even remembered what his girlfriend looked like.

Katara was about to voice her thoughts when the Fire Lord in question entered the kitchen, walking over to the stove near where Katara and Aang were and taking the lid off of a pot of what would be jook in the morning.

"Hey," Katara greeted the firebender. "When's your girlfriend getting here?"

Zuko smiled politely at Katara. "She should be here by tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

Katara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Just curious. I could use another girl around. I lack female companionship."

"Hey! I resent that!" Sokka exclaimed. "You just insulted Suki! She's a girl!"

"And Toph, too," Zuko offered.

"Toph doesn't count," Katara declared. "She's like a man in a girl's body. And Suki is too busy sucking face with my brother to have girl time with me."

Sokka stuck his tongue out at his baby sister. "Like you don't make out with your boyfriend."

Katara turned to Aang, seemingly melting into his side like she belonged there and gently putting her hand on his face. Her thumb traced the strong lines of his face and she could feel it when his lips curved into a smile. She moved her thumb to his lips and traced their lines before reaching up and kissing him full on the mouth.

"You're right, Sokka," she muttered against Aang's lips, not even bothering to turn and look at her brother. "I DO like to make out with my boyfriend."

Aang put his hands on Katara's waist and pulled her closer, as close as he possibly could, and it caused Katara to smile against their kiss. She gently ran her hand over the stubble on his head that was on its way to becoming real hair.

"You know," Katara murmured, barely moving away from Aang's mouth, brandishing her fingers over his dark hair. "I really like you with hair."

Aang blushed and laughed, breaking the romantic spell of the moment and returning Katara to the world where her brother and Zuko were still in the kitchen watching them.

"That's not polite for company, Katara." Sokka told her.

Katara stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up, Sokka!" she exclaimed. "You can't talk! Do you think that I can't hear you and Suki going at it at night?"

Sokka looked nonplussed as he regarded his sister. "Hey, what can I say, I'm a stud. I can't help it if Suki wants me."

Katara snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, well Aang's a _real_ stud. What if we did what you and Suki get up to at night, hmm? How does that make you feel?"

Sokka blanched visibly, and Katara smirked.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now stay out of my business."

Aang watched Katara walk out of the kitchen and was torn over whether he should follow her or not. Not wanting to make it appear like his girlfriend had complete control of him, he elected to stay, but Zuko and Sokka gave him grief anyway.

"Is she always like that?" Zuko quietly asked Aang.

Aang laughed. "With Sokka? Yeah, pretty much. He pushes her buttons, always has."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, sitting up from his slouch in his chair. "She started it!"

"Um, no she didn't." Aang said. "It really _was_ your fault."

Sokka glared at Aang. "Wow, she's got you whipped, huh?"

Aang cocked his eyebrow. "Uh, no, she doesn't. I do what I want. And you did start it by mocking her about kissing me."

"I don't know, Aang. It does kind of sound like you're Katara's mindless slave."

"If that were true," Aang countered, "than I would have followed her out like a baby mooselion when she left just now."

Zuko shook his head. "That proves nothing. If she called you right now and asked you to go see her, you'd do it."

"Yes, I would," Aang agreed. "But that's because I have manners. I'd do that for anyone who called for me."

"That only proves our point more," Sokka argued. "You're just a pushover in general."

Aang rolled his eyes. "You can think what you want, Sokka, but I'm not whipped."

"What are you bunch of weenies talking about?"

The three boys turned to see Toph leaning in the doorway with a devious smirk on her face. She had heightened hearing - of course she had heard the whole conversation. She knew what the had been talking about.

"Something I defiantly think you don't need to know about." Aang said quickly, even knowing that she had heard the whole thing.

Toph continued to grin. "I don't know, Twinkle Toes, I think you're pretty whipped."

"Your opinion doesn't count, Toph," Sokka announced offhandedly. "You've got everyone whipped."

Toph shrugged, walking over to the counter and grabbing and apple from the fruit bowl that was sitting there. "That's true. I am pretty amazing. Having everyone whipped is part of that."

Zuko snorted in amusement. "Gee, that's not arrogant."

Toph shrugged again, flicking a piece of apple from her tunic. "Eh, maybe, but it doesn't matter. I could kick your sorry ass any day of the week."

"Hey, now," Aang warned diplomatically, seeing the heated look forming on Zuko's face. "Behave, you two. This house has already suffered enough damage because of us. It doesn't need anymore."

"Yeah," Zuko said. "If I weren't so attached to the pace, I would have had it torn down. It was pretty expensive to get it fixed back up."

Sokka laughed. "That is entirely your fault, oh great and powerful Fire Lord. If you hadn't attacked Aang, you wouldn't have had to pay for the fire damage to the hallway."

Toph chuckled. "He has a point, Hothead."

Zuko just rolled his eyes. "If I hadn't attacked Aang, I probably wouldn't be Fire Lord now."

Aang looked at Zuko curiously. "How do you figure?"

"Because if I hadn't, you probably wouldn't have know that you had to fight my dad before the comet. Do the math."

"Can't argue with that logic." Toph said.

"What logic are we arguing with?"

The four turned to the sound of Suki's voice. Sokka smiled and motioned for her to come to him. She smiled and obeyed, walking up to her boyfriend and then sitting down in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kisses him, earning a groan from everyone else in the room.

"I'm out of here," Aang declared, and he quickly walked out towards the beach where he knew Katara would be.

End Chapter

Well, that was a lot of words. But then, that was my goal. I'm trying to make my chapters longer.

So, yeah, don't kill me for going traitor to the Kataang cause there for a while. The Zutara was needed to progress the plot, and I think I did it rather flawlessly, thank you very much.

This chapter was almost a good five pages longer because I almost wrote the flight from Gaipan to Ember Island, but I didn't because it just wouldn't have flowed right. I also originally had Katara have a dream about Aang marrying the Noni girl, but I also scrapped that because of the flow. Oh, please note that Gaipan is the town Sokka saved from Jet's flood incident. In case you didn't know.

Also: No, Katara is _not_ pregnant. Her brief illness was just what she tells Zuko she thinks it is. Besides, she's still a virgin in this story. She and Aang may keep almost changing that, but they haven't gotten around to it. Yet. I still haven't decided if I'm up to writing the actual deed, so yeah.

I think that's it. Stay tuned; next time there's another Kataang sexual encounter. Give me your feedback and I'm likely to update more quickly. And remember, if you find the lyrics from Back to December in the dialogue, you get the next chapter dedicated to you.

- Pidge


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